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Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Former Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Corrections Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations

Demetrio Juan Gonzales, 40, a former corrections officer at the
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Albuquerque,
N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 33 months in prison
followed by three years of supervised released for violating the civil
rights of an individual in his custody when he struck and choked the
victim in the shower room/dress out area of MDC.
Gonzales pleaded guilty in October 2012.

According to court documents, during the early morning hours of Dec. 21,
2011, Gonzales was assigned to the Receiving-Discharge-Transfer (RDT)
Unit at MDC where individuals are brought to be booked soon after they
are arrested.
Gonzales’ job was to photograph and fingerprint those who are brought to RDT for booking.
The victim, who had been arrested for driving while
intoxicated, was verbally uncooperative during the booking process, but
was not a physical threat to anyone.
Nonetheless, Gonzales became angry at the victim and walked him
to the shower room/dress out area where he knew there were no
surveillance cameras.
Several other corrections officers followed Gonzales to the shower room/dress out area.
There, Gonzales physically assaulted the victim, striking him multiple times, and choking him.
As a result of Gonzales’ actions, the victim started bleeding.
Gonzales acknowledged that the victim did nothing to justify
the beating, and as a corrections officer, he was not permitted to
assault inmates just because they angered him.

“Corrections officers who abuse their authority by physically assaulting
prisoners undermine the foundations of the rule of law and violate
basic constitutional guarantees that protect every person in America,”
said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Department of
Justice’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice and the
Civil Rights Division will continue to aggressively prosecute civil
rights violations that occur in our jails and prisons.”

“We depend on the guards in our prison system not only to do an
important job, but also to carry out their duties in a way that respects
their positions of authority, the law and ultimately the population
they supervise,” said Kenneth J. Gonzales, U.S. Attorney for the
District of New Mexico. “Abuses of authority, under any circumstances,
have no place in our prison system and will not be tolerated.”

“Our citizens have the right to expect their corrections officers to act
legally and in accordance with the Constitution,” said Carol K.O. Lee,
Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI. “We
hope today's sentencing serves as a reminder to all public servants that
nobody is above the law. The Albuquerque FBI Division will continue to
work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously investigate all
allegations of civil rights violations. I want to thank the U.S.
Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
for their support in this case. I also want to acknowledge the
assistance given to the FBI by the Metropolitan Detention Center's
executive management and internal affairs staff and the Bernalillo
County Sheriff's Office.”

Fellow former MDC corrections officers Kevin Casaus, 24, and Matthew
Pendley, 26, were indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2012, and are
awaiting trial on charges related to this assault.
Casaus is charged with violating the victim’s civil right
rights when he allegedly shoved and struck the victim while in the
shower area/dress out area.
Casaus is further charged with obstruction of justice and
falsification of records, first for making false statements to
detectives of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and then for
falsifying his incident report.
Similarly, Matthew Pendley is also charged with obstruction of
justice for making false statements to BCSO detectives, and also for
tampering with evidence by cleaning up blood from the shower room/dress
out area.
Casaus and Pendley
are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI
and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark T. Baker for the
District of New Mexico and Trial Attorney Fara Gold of the Civil Rights
Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.